


The Pepperoni is Under the Cheese

by Krizlynn



Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Gintoki Birthday Bash, Gintoki is a pizza guy yes, Hijikata is obsessed with pizza, M/M, Misunderstandings, Romance, pizza place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:01:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26745553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krizlynn/pseuds/Krizlynn
Summary: When Hijikata moves to a new apartment, he discovers Domimos, the only pizza place out there that sells mayonnaise as a sauce option.It just so happens that the delivery guy is an annoying permhead, and Hijikata’s first words to the man are a drunken slur of how he’s hot.(More simply: A story of how Hijikata can’t get over his mayonnaise-pizza obsession, and Gintoki can’t spend one second not flirting with his loyal customer.)
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki
Comments: 33
Kudos: 163
Collections: Gintoki's Birthday Bash 2020





	1. Do People Actually Deserve the Misery They Go Through?

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the mods of GBB and my beta reader greenkazoo!  
> Of course please fawn over these beautiful art pieces in this story, by @m0kay_ and @mayora6plus7 on twitter! Give them love pls and thank!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hijikata moves, and the smell of mayonnaise pizza somehow leads him to a (hot) bastard.

Hijikata dropped his bags on the ground, looking over the new place he’d be spending his nights.

It wasn’t much different from his last apartment; simple, modest. He’d add his own belongings just until he could actually call it a home. The only real contrast he spotted was a functioning stove, otherwise the layout was quite similar. Entrance and living room/kitchen, the main room on the left of a hallway, and a bathroom and extra room across from that. 

He had limited options, after all, being a third-year university student who relied on scholarships and his part-time job. If he’d wanted a penthouse suite, he’d have to die and be reincarnated. 

He felt as if he’d get settled in easily, so he didn’t really understand the huge ruckus that was caused when he told the others about his move. “The others” meaning Sougo and Kondou, the bastards he had as friends since high school. The funny thing was that they didn’t even go to the same high school, and neither were they even in the same grades. They’d met on some terrible camping trip for all grades, and through some messed up event where they got lost together, they’d become inseparable friends. 

It may or may not have been a terrible idea to invite said friends over that evening—scratch that, he barely even invited them. They invited themselves, and he’d reluctantly agreed after all the pestering. 

Both Sougo and Kondou had bothered him the second the word “move” left his mouth, and the pestering continued for a whole week. Stuff about wanting to see his new place, demanding for a housewarming party, and forcing his hand when he said that it was not a big deal. But, well, he could accept it this time around, because Sougo surprisingly offered to bring the booze. 

What was so grand about a new place, anyway? It didn’t change much else about Hijikata’s life, because it was at an apartment just like his last place, and only cut his travelling distances by five or so minutes. It did, however, make him aware of a pizza place nearby that served a special Mayonnaise Pizza. He’d have to admit that the mayonnaise pizza played a part in the reason for his move, because he was a sucker for both pizza and mayonnaise. A majority of it, however, was that he was sick of his past neighbours. One of them constantly asked for hemorrhoid medication at random hours in the night, and the other was Kondou's girlfriend that kept gifting food that might as well have been poison. For his well being (that meant not having to wake up at 3 a.m. or ingesting toxins), he moved. 

And so, after a few hours of unpacking and mentally preparing himself for a night of babysitting two dumbasses, all those events brought the three of them to his nearly barren living room on top of a blanket he haphazardly laid out ten minutes before they came.

“Alright everyone, the night is young! We start the party with a cheer!” Kondou opened the drinks that Sougo brought, pouring them into cups. 

“I don’t want to get too drunk today. What’s the alcohol content on this?” 

“Oh don’t worry Hijikata-kun, the one you have right now is less than 10%,” Sougo answered, gesturing to the cup Kondou had given Hijikata. “I brought some harder ones, but it seems Kondou knows your type.” 

“Thanks.” Hijikata swirled the alcohol in his cup, but felt his suspicions rise as he glanced over at Sougo, who was accepting his own drink without a fuss. “Fuck that. Kondou, give me the bottle.” 

He received it seconds later and inspected it closely, looking at the labels. It was indeed a weaker drink; 8%. 

“Don’t worry about it, Toshi! Let’s just have a good time!” The gorilla raised his cup, followed by Sougo and then finally Hijikata. “Cheers to Hijikata’s new place!” 

Before Kondou could even consume one drop, he spilled it on himself because of how hard he cheered, drawing a laugh out of Hijikata. As Sougo brought him napkins and Kondou wiped himself up, Hijikata took his first drink with a grin that night, wincing when it hit harder than he’d expected. He was drawn away from his realization, however, when Kondou proceeded to knock over even Sougo’s cup, a yell leaving Hijikata’s mouth when his new place got alcohol all over the floor. 

“The landlord will be angry if I ruin the floors on my first day here,” Hijikata stated, grabbing some napkins to wipe the spill up. 

“Oh, Matsudaira? Don’t worry about it, I told him you’re very responsible.” 

Hijikata sighed, suddenly remembering that the landlord was someone Kondou was surprisingly acquainted with. He hadn’t known this until he had already signed the lease—otherwise he probably would have thought it over more. He even had to learn from Kondou that the man went to hostess bars more often than he went to get groceries. The other day he had invited Hijikata and told him he’d pay for the entire thing.

He discarded the wet napkins on some empty packaging, settling back down as he took another gulp of his drink. His eyebrow twitched as he heard Sougo and Kondou talk about using his Nintendo Switch. 

“We could play _Mario Kart_ , and whoever loses has to take a gulp of their drink,” Sougo suggested, and because Kondou would agree to anything, he turned to the 22-year old. “Are you in, Hijikata-kun?” 

Hijikata thought about the fact that it was a Sunday night. He had early classes tomorrow, but the moment he saw Sougo open his mouth—no doubt to question if Hijikata was too afraid of losing—he agreed with a shrug. 

He should be fine with the low-alcohol drink he currently had. 

Regardless, he wouldn’t be surprised if tonight ended with a fire starting in his apartment.

-

Some time through the night, maybe an hour or hour-and-a-half after the _Mario Kart_ tournament had started, all caution Hijikata had about getting drunk had been thrown out of the window. 

One sip turned into three, and then three turned into a cup, and then more. This was probably because of the fact that Hijikata sucked at games. He blamed it on the fact that the first game he ever played was with Sougo and Kondou years ago, and the former had named his character Smegma. He’d definitely been cursed from that point onward, and could only die whenever he played. The only reason he even had a gaming console was because he’d received it as a gift. 

At what he thought was the 2 hour mark, he’d given up trying to win. He was no longer seated in front of the TV, instead laying over the coffee table behind Kondou and Sougo, who were still playing.

“Oi, anyone feel like piz-za?” Hijikata questioned, stumbling over the word pizza (he briefly wondered why he pronounced it _peet-za_ and not _peeza_ ), blinking at the table’s surface he’d been staring at. He lifted his head from his arms, watching as Sougo and Kondou now battled it off through _Super Smash Bros_. “Oiiiii,” he called again, tilting his head to the side. 

“Yes yes, we heard you Hijikata. Give us a sec. Just take another drink,” Sougo said, smashing his controllers as a last resort when Kondou’s _Cloud_ knocked him off again. 

Hijikata looked at the cup he’d been drinking from, questioning if he really should have another drink. He knew he was woozy already, and the room was hot, but oh well, Sougo said it, so. (He was most definitely already piss drunk, because even a semi-conscious Hijikata would never readily agree to a suggestion from Sougo.) He knocked back the rest of his cup, his face scrunching up when it burned on the way down and burping when it reached his stomach. 

“ _I want peeza_.” 

As he laid his head back down, he suddenly remembered the special pizza place near him. One that served the food with the holiest condiment, mayonnaise. It was rare already for a pizza place to have mayonnaise as a side sauce, but the place (Domimos, was the name) served whole pizzas where mayonnaise was the main sauce. If that wasn’t something to rejoice at, Hijikata wouldn't understand what was.

He didn’t know who did it. It could’ve been him, or it could’ve been Sougo and Kondou who’d finally paid attention to him after another few rounds. Somehow his wish had been granted. He had knocked out for a bit, and the next time he opened his eyes, it was to Sougo kicking his thigh and telling him to get the door. 

What he figured out through some case of superhuman instincts (or he really didn’t know at all and he was just hoping), was that the knock on his door was from the special mayonnaise pizza place. 

The shirt he had nearly tripped over on the way to the door was his. To him, the room was still hot even without it.

Hijikata was pulling open the door a second later, faced with, firstly, the pizza box, and then a dashing face. He blinked a few times, gaze roaming over his delivery guy’s appearance. 

It was the curly hair that did it for him—or, no, wait. The nice set of arms. Or maybe it was the scarlet eyes. His lips were a nice shape as well. Heck, Hijikata just concluded that the guy’s entire existence was attractive. 

He didn’t hold back from voicing that fact. 

“Woah,” Hijikata mostly said to himself, “Hot.” 

His delivery guy raised an eyebrow when he heard Hijikata say this. Hijikata would’ve tried to read the name tag on the guy’s shirt, but he couldn’t focus long enough when he saw the ghost of nice pecs. He thought that maybe he’d gotten his own once-over moments later, but he couldn’t confirm it because of Sougo’s next statement. 

“Hey, Hijikata! You forgot your wallet over here.”

“Huh?” Hijikata glanced behind him and saw Sougo holding up his wallet, “Oh.” 

After stumbling over himself and grabbing it, he was back in front of mister hottie, handing him two twenties after being told the price for his pizza (the guy even had a nice voice too, bless). Two twenties was overkill for a pizza just over twenty, but he forgot how to do math and decided it was easier this way. 

The man accepted the cash in his hands, and Hijikata grabbed the pizza, smiling. On regular days one would never see Hijikata Toushirou smiling like that, but he’d always been a dopey drunk. In addition to the shocking appearance of his smile, he also gave the man a wider, special smile for the special mayonnaise pizza and special hotness—where the corners of his eyes crinkled and his cheeks raised.

Then that was it. He closed the door in the guy’s face and settled back on the floor, opening the pizza box. 

“Finally,” Hijikata said, “Pizza.” 

He’d only realize later that he’d just made the most embarrassing mistake of his life.

-

The next time he saw sunlight was absolute hell. His head was pounding like it never had before—reminded him of how Sougo had chosen pots and pans as an alarm once, and at the memory of Sougo, he shot up in bed. 

He had to take a moment to groan, hand grasping his head when the world started spinning. 

“Sougo,” Hijikata gritted out, glancing around the room to see if he could find maybe Sougo or Kondou, as they usually stayed over after a night of drinking. He knew exactly what happened last night—no, not the events, because it was all a blank spot in his memory, but he knew without a shred of doubt that he’d been tricked by the bastard he was looking for. 

Never before had he woken up with a hangover as intense as this, and he knew it was because of whatever he drank. 

He stumbled out of his room, shivering a little when he noticed he was only in his sweatpants, dreading the memories from last night even more when he realized he’d taken off his shirt hours earlier. At least, he reasoned, he didn’t wake up with some chick in his bed. Not only was he gay, but he also hadn’t done anything like that in his life. One night stands, he meant. Not the actual act—he wasn’t a— _you know what, nevermind_.

He found his harasser passed out in the living room, and their friend knocked out on the dining table. 

He was too old for this shit, he swore. He turned 22 just a few months ago, so why the hell was he having to beat up this dumbass for tricking him into getting drunk out of his mind? Shouldn’t he already know after 9 years that the most dangerous person in his life was Sougo?

God, at least it’d only been Kondo and Sougo who’d seen him like that. 

He was gripping Sougo’s collar before he could even think of other ways to deal with this, shaking him awake. 

“Hey, bastard. Wake up. Let me punch you when you’re awake. Let me beat you into the next day.” 

“Die, Hijikata,” Sougo said without opening his eyes. Hijikata’s own eye twitched. 

He decided he wouldn’t care if that was sleep talking or if Sougo was just being annoying again, lifting his arm and preparing for a punch. It didn’t connect. Sougo moved his head and dodged it last second, rolling away from his grasp. 

“Come back here, brat!” 

“What’s all this noise?” Kondou questioned. It looked like he was in the worst state of all of them as he walked and scratched at his stomach.

“Oh, you know. Hijikata was just embarrassed that he messed up in front of a hottie yesterday.” 

“A hottie—“ Hijikata cut himself off, lunging at Sougo before he could even try to remember. 

Kondou had to stop them after they wrestled on the ground for a few minutes, reminding the both of them that they had classes. It was a Monday, after all, precisely the reason Hijikata hadn’t wanted to drink so much yesterday. 

Hijikata thus resigned, and Sougo kept his evil comments to himself. 

The rest of the morning was spent getting to his campus on time, having to think extra hard about what notes he’d need and what classes he had in store that day. Sougo revealed that the alcohol he’d had last night was more like 60%, telling Hijikata that he should never trust the labels because they could be messed with (the kid even dared to call him an idiot). 

By the time he sat down in a lecture hall, he’d managed to convince himself to not worry about last night anymore, working instead to get over his hangover with some black coffee. 

He reasoned that it was just a prank. He did nothing in front of anyone other than Kondou and Sougo, and any info otherwise was a lie straight from Sougo’s mouth. 

They worked well, his justifications. In fact, after that day at school, Hijikata basically forgot that Sougo mentioned an embarrassing moment at all, going the next few days without ever wondering what happened as he absorbed himself in studies. 

It was only four days later, at a time nearing midnight when Hijikata usually finished his studying, that he was reminded of what he’d be better off forgetting. 

He’d ordered a pizza online for delivery, endlessly thankful that they had basically 24/7 hours and served a pizza he couldn’t find anywhere else. Hijikata had briefly remembered that he’d had the pizza before, and when he recalled that it was on that night, he started thinking about what else he’d done.

And now, he was starting to remember it in bits and pieces. 

The memory jogger was those scarlet eyes. 

A scene suddenly flashed in his mind. Him, opening the door to the same set of eyes, immediately thinking that this person was attractive.

“Mayonnaise pizza with extra mayonnaise,” the lazy voice said. Even the timber of his voice was familiar.

“Ah... yes,” Hijikata said, reaching into his pocket for his wallet and forking out the exact amount he needed, adding 10% as a tip. He could feel the man’s piercing gaze on him, but uncharacteristically, he refused to stare back. There was another memory tickling the back of his mind that he had to ignore—desperately. He did not want to think about it at that moment. Anytime but now.

When the pizza was safely in his hands he tried closing the door, but a soft opposition presented itself. The guy’s hand, Hijikata realized, was pushing against the door.

Hijikata could feel that he was slowly meeting his doom, as if on a river in his rowing boat, mere moments away from a drop into the abyss. 

Nonetheless, he pulled open the door again, trying to seem calm when he raised an eyebrow.

“You have a shirt on this time,” the guy pointed out, and Hijikata just looked down, staring at his dark red t-shirt.

“Sorry... I don’t...” he trailed off when he remembered he had woken up shirtless, and the thought of him shirtless in front of this dude struck another memory.

The pizza delivery guy leaned on the doorframe, taking him out of his thoughts as he smirked. It was unfair; even though Hijikata hated cocky people who looked down on him, he still thought that the smirk was attractive on the man’s face. “I get no compliment this time?” 

Hijikata was starting to recall it all now—from how he’d very obviously ogled the man to performing what he could now call his most embarrassing act. 

“I was very flattered by the way, when someone as handsome as you called me hot.” 

And sure, the guy was hot, but what was also hot now was Hijikata’s face. 

“Ah, but it was your smile that did it for me. Very cute.” 

Hijikata was basically a tomato as he nearly slammed the door on the guy’s face. 

“You have the wrong guy,” he yelled through the door.

His voice was shaky with embarrassment and incredulity as he remembered it all. He’d called that guy hot, right in his face. Stared at his arms for a solid thirty seconds. And, he realized with added salt to the injury, he had been shirtless, red-faced from the alcohol, and his hair was probably some messed up W instead of a V. _And he’d smiled at him! Like an idiot!_

There were two light knocks on the door that Hijikata was still leaning against, and then he heard: 

“No one else orders a mayonnaise pizza with extra mayonnaise. I’ll see you next time, Hijikata-kun.” 

He slid down the door until his ass hit the floor, pizza box settled on his knees. 

“I hate my life,” he groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The art for this chapter is by @m0kay_ on Twitter!! Here is the link: 
> 
> https://am-0kay.tumblr.com/post/631424080707518464/my-piece-for-for-gintokibirthdaybash-i-had-a


	2. Deal of the Week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hijikata has to figure out what's worth it: getting mayonnaise pizza, or successfully avoiding pizza delivery guy.

Hijikata realized that he didn’t even know the delivery guy’s name. 

He knew absolutely nothing about the man—so why was he going so out of his way for him? 

To confirm: going out of his way to avoid the hell out of him.

After their second encounter, Hijikata had spent the rest of the week agonizing over his stupid drunk mistakes and wishing that Sougo was finally found dead in some ditch. He ignored his craving for pizza on a nice Saturday, settled for chinese on Sunday, and then finally thought that he could successfully order a pizza without meeting the guy. 

The ingenious plan he came up with was to order walk-in, at a time where the sun was still relatively high in the sky. That time was right after his classes on Monday, 3:30 p.m. 

Hijikata walked into the pizzeria with confidence, almost positive that he wouldn’t be anywhere in sight because 1. He was the delivery guy and 2. Hijikata could assume that his shifts were nighttime shifts. 

It was empty behind the counter and the rest of the store, so Hijikata shuffled over to the area right in front of the cash register, reading over the items on the menu as he waited for someone. Some foods piqued his interest, like the breadsticks that had mayonnaise as a choice sauce, or a mayonnaise-filled crust pizza. There was even a natto pizza. The store had such a weird selection of flavors, but he wasn't complaining because it included three mayonnaise pizza options. Of course, they weren’t exclusively mayonnaise (for example there were a dozen other sauces to choose from, and the pizzas could have any of them in their crust) but it was still surprising nonetheless. 

Once he’d finished that he looked around the store, which was small but neat, with only two tables that were a navy blue—the same colour as the accents around the room and the uniform their workers wore. Well, at least, their delivery workers, for all he knew. 

He felt himself cringing again when he was reminded of the delivery guy, because the janky uniform somehow looked good on him. The colour had made his eyes pop, if Hijikata remembered well. 

It was only after a few minutes of agonizing over how terribly he’d made a fool of himself in front of the man that Hijikata realized this was taking a little longer than normal. 

He decided to finally ring the little bell on the counter, waiting only two more seconds before he heard a voice. 

“Coming,” he heard from what he assumed was the kitchen. _That voice is._.. familiar, Hijikata realized with dread. “Sorry, we don’t usually get customers at this time.”

It was definitely him. Definitely x100, when Hijikata saw the tuft of silver hair peeking out from under a navy blue cap. He had a split second option to just turn tail and leave forever, but he steeled himself at the last moment. After all, he had his pride on the line. 

They made eye contact for the third time ever, and Hijikata’s brain malfunctioned for a moment, feeling as if he was drunk and stupid all over again. The man smirked once he settled behind the cash register; a look that indicated he remembered exactly who Hijikata was. Not that the latter doubted it, since he’d known his name from last time. 

“What can I get for you, Oogushi-kun?” 

“Oogushi—?”

He was teasing him. There was no other explanation for it, and Hijikata hated how his brain always went into overdrive in this man’s presence. 

“A mayonnaise pizza with extra mayonnaise please,” he decided to say instead of questioning the name choice. For some reason, he almost felt embarrassed for ordering his pizza, because he remembered being told that only _he_ ordered it.

“Uhuh.” As the guy pressed on buttons Hijikata’s eyes roamed his front, searching for the name tag he remembered existed on uniforms. He wasn’t interested, was what he was saying to himself. He just hated not having names on faces. “Anything else?”

The question was lost in the air, because Hijikata couldn’t find the name tag and he was wondering why, too distracted for anything else.

“Gintoki.” 

Hijikata looked up, finding the silver-haired man staring at him. He figured he’d never get over how those scarlet eyes seemed to pierce right through his very soul. 

“My name,” Gintoki explained. 

“Oh,” Hijikata supplied worthlessly, and then he stared for another few seconds before he finally snapped out of it, suddenly registering the question asked before. “That’s all.” 

“Alright, one mayonnaise pizza with extra mayonnaise, and my name. The total comes to 40 dollars.” 

His fingers stopped from where they’d been fishing bills out of his wallet. “Oi, that sounds wrong.” 

“No?” Gintoki replied, cheeky motherfucker he was, “The name has a 20 dollar price.” 

“As if it’s 20 fucking dollars. You got mine for free!” 

“You snooze you lose,” he shrugged, and Hijikata opened his mouth to refute. He soon realized how pointless it was, shutting up seconds later without having said anything. He didn’t notice he was sulking. 

Unexpectedly, a smile grew on Gintoki’s face. 

“It’s $21.30.” 

“Thought so,” Hijikata grumbled, handing off the money he’d already prepared.

“There was a reduction because you’re cute.” 

“That again—“ he started, remembering how Gintoki had called him cute before. “I’m not.” 

The bills he’d given to the man were being put away in the till, and he watched the whole time that Gintoki flipped them whatever which way to make them match the rest. 

“Mm, right. And you totally don’t think I’m hot.” Hijikata’s eye twitched as Gintoki pushed the drawer close. ”If only you could see it from my perspective.” 

“I’d rather not.” Hijikata dropped a few coins into the tip jar and then took a few steps back, expecting it when Gintoki didn’t give him a receipt or number for his order. He was the only one there anyway. 

Once the pizza worker disappeared behind the fabric, Hijikata sat down at a table as he waited, thoughts drifting to other things as the clock on the wall ticked. Hijikata had mostly needed pizza as a pick-me up that day, after the horrendous project he’d just been assigned in class. After three years of university, one would think that he’d be used to the strange people he’d encounter. However, this group project of his introduced... quite the characters. One of them he remembered as Sarutobi (but most people called her Sacchan) and the other was a meek boy named Yamazaki. The problem with Sarutobi was that she’d talk about M things she wished were done to her, and the problem with Yamazaki was that he’d doodle anpan on any surface he’d find. Hijikata didn’t yet know how good the two worked in terms of school, but he already knew their daily lives were strange. 

Though truth be told, he probably wasn’t in the right spot to complain. He was after all what people called a _mayora_ , probably addicted to cigarettes, and probably a little too into following the law. The last point contributed to the reason he was even in university to become a lawyer instead of a police officer like his other friends (Kondou and Sougo, remember those idiots?). And yeah, he’d been told before that he had a mean look and was basically unapproachable. He couldn’t really complain about his group partners while being like that himself.

He spent the rest of his time on his phone. Out of habit he pulled out his cigarettes, but stopped short when he remembered he was inside, leaving the box instead under his palm, fiddling with it as the minutes ticked by. Throughout the time he was sitting there, he could hear bickering from Gintoki and an unknown, elderly-woman-sounding voice. Though he could barely make out any sentences, he could tell that it was stuff about lazing off and not doing jobs right. 

When Hijikata had successfully discovered a new cat on his game ( _yes_ , he was playing a cat game, okay? It was one of the only games he was good at), the pizza finished without his knowledge, and he hadn't noticed when Gintoki had snuck up next to him. Before he knew it, he felt a warm tap on his head and nearly flinched, looking up to find the underside of a pizza box. 

"Mayo pizza for our mayo lover," Gintoki moved the box so that Hijikata could see his grinning face, and the latter simply rolled his eyes. He grabbed it and stood, ignoring how he'd somehow made the unlucky move of brushing his fingers over Gintoki's.

Just as he was about to leave, Gintoki, like the tormenting guy Hijikata was slowly learning he was, put in the last word. 

"Next one’s on me if I get to see you shirtless again.” 

Hijikata would’ve slammed the glass door if it wasn’t soft-close. 

-

The “next one” was not when Hijikata was shirtless. Therefore, it wasn’t free either. 

What it _was_ , however, was an impulse buy at 2a.m. when Hijikata was craving a snack. The thought did cross his mind that he had a big chance of running into Gintoki, but strangely enough, his original feeling of wanting to kill himself at the thought of his drunken encounter had subsided a little after his first walk-in. 

The pizza box he received was warm (and rather late), and he had every intention of doing the whole exchange without unnecessary conversation, but alas. Gintoki was the delivery guy, and Hijikata would learn that he was persistent in weird ways. 

“So,” Gintoki began, and then he leaned on the door frame, staring straight at him. “‘You a university student?” 

Hijikata looked at him for a moment, cigarette hanging from his mouth as he wondered what he wanted from this conversation. He settled on the thought that it was to cure late-night boredom. 

“Yes I’m a student,” Hijikata decided to humour him. 

“What’cha doing?” 

He debated not replying, but then thought better of it. He didn’t want a strained relationship with the pizza store that served the only mayonnaise pizza out there.

“Pre-law…” was his answer, and then after a moment of hesitation, he backed up a step, gesturing further into his place with a tilt to his head. “You can come in, unless you have more deliveries.” 

After all, it seemed like a lead-up to a longer conversation, so it would have been rude to make Gintoki stand at the door for the rest of it.

There was a voice in the back of his mind questioning why he’d even let a stranger into his home just for a conversation, but he reasoned that Gintoki wasn’t really a stranger if he knew his name now. 

“Coincidentally, your pizza’s the last on my list right now.”

Hijikata narrowed his eyes at the man who stepped in, watching as Gintoki slipped off his shoes. He closed the door moments later, and when Gintoki caught Hijikata’s disbelieving stare he grinned. 

“Or, not so coincidentally.”

With a scoff Hijikata settled onto the floor pillow, pizza box set on the coffee table. 

“Sorry, there’s a chair in the corner over there.” He discarded his smoke as he watched Gintoki cross the room.

“I don’t mind the floor,” Gintoki spoke, sitting down across from him, leaned on his palms behind. 

Hijikata shrugged and finally opened the pizza he was anticipating, “...So, what are you?” 

“They call me the Jack of All Trades.” 

Hijikata raised an accusatory eyebrow. “Really.”

“Well, not really anymore. At the beginning of the year when I just started my break from school, I had a lot of part-time jobs. Now I’m kind of stuck with this one.” 

“Why? Better pay?” As someone who’d had to drop his second part-time job when school got more stressful, Hijikata’d had to pick between his jobs as well. 

“Mm, more like, I owe a favour to the old hag that runs the place.” 

Hijikata snorted, “She’d kick you out if she heard what you said, I’m sure.”

“Oh don’t worry, if she was going to she would’ve done it at the beginning of the year.” 

“Fair.” 

That was when Hijikata decided his stomach had waited long enough, opening the box to reveal his pizza. It was still warm, and the smell of his personal heaven wafted throughout the room. As he picked up a piece he glanced at Gintoki, who was just staring. 

“What, you want one?” 

“God, no. I wouldn’t eat that even at gunpoint. I’m just wondering how you can make it seem good.”

Hijikata scoffed, taking a bite and feeling satisfaction ooze through him at the taste. “Because it _is_ good.” 

“Dog food? No thanks.” 

“ _Dog food_ —excuse me?” 

“Yeah I said what I said. You know what you should try?” Gintoki questioned, pushing off his hands to lean forward. He seemed as if he was about to reveal the cure to cancer. “Put some azuki beans on there.” 

“You’re insane,” Hijikata answered without a beat in between. 

“I’m serious! It remade pizza entirely for me!” 

“Of course it would! You made it something worthy for the trash!” 

“You—I’m not delivering to your house anymore.” 

“That’s great, exactly what I wanted.” 

“Oi, that’s not what I wanted to hear,” Gintoki griped. He flopped onto his back when all Hijikata did was ignore him, arms spread out. “That was a lie, Gin-chan would never stop delivering to the cute mayora.” 

Hijikata groaned, and just as he was about to tell Gintoki to stop it with his games, a notification sound interrupted him. 

“Shit, the old hag never misses anything.” Gintoki pulled his phone out, and Hijikata watched as he tapped his thumbs a few times on the screen before he sat up again. “Well, I’ve been called back.” 

“Great.” 

“Hey, by the way,” Gintoki spoke as he stood, patting himself off. “You should order on Wednesdays. We have deals on those days.” 

“...Maybe.” 

Once he slipped his shoes back on he opened the door, turning around last second. He seemed to always need the last word. 

“But of course, if you want a deal I could get you a deal any day.” 

And with a wink, he was gone. 

Hijikata stared at the remaining pieces of pizza in his box. He'd eat more now, and the leftovers tomorrow, but there was no way he wouldn’t crave pizza again on Wednesday. 

He wasn’t left with many options. 

-

Sarutobi and Yamazaki weren’t that bad of people, Hijikata decided two days after their first group meeting. Sure they were weird, and sure their problem-solving tactics were out of the ordinary, but they were actually hard workers. 

That didn’t stop the project from being a pain in the ass. 

Hijikata groaned, leaning back in his desk chair and watching as the room turned upside-down. He was in charge of the Powerpoint and the first section, and he honestly had no idea what the presentation should look like. Because of his mean demeanour, all other group projects he’d been in had members who thought it’d be better if someone _other_ than Hijikata made the Powerpoint. It was evident that this time around, both Yamazaki and Sarutobi did not care about those types of things. Hijikata was both glad and dismayed that it’d ended up this way. 

It’d be simple if he could arrange it like how he made the Powerpoints for his solo presentations years before, but life wasn’t simple and neither was this project. He didn’t know how to make something that didn’t scream that he’d been the one to make it.

He whipped out his phone.

Project LC

**_Hijikata_ ** _1:47a.m.  
_ Anyone have ideas for what kind of theme I should use? 

**_Sachammm~_ ** _1:47a.m.  
_ Nada

**_Yamanpan_ ** _1:48a.m.  
_ That’s kind of your job

**_Hijikata_ ** _1:48a.m.  
_ Shut up Yamazaki.

Hijikata dropped his phone onto the desk, rubbing his eyes as he sighed. When he opened them again he spotted the mini calendar on his desk, suddenly remembering that it was now technically Wednesday. Had been for approximately an hour and 50 minutes. 

All the more reason to get a pizza. 

This time around, Hijikata decided to call in to place his order. He usually did it online, but his eyes hurt and he’d rather not look at a screen one more second than he needed to. God knew he’d be doing a lot more of that in the following hours. 

The number was easy to find and in the next minute he was leaned over the backrest again, phone held up to his ear and he stared at the ceiling. He was glad that he’d moved his desk out to the living room, so that his bedroom wouldn’t be a subconscious sign of all the sleepless school-nights he’d have to spend. 

After a few rings it connected, and he heard the lazy drawl he was expecting. “ _Domimos Pizza, how can I help you?_ ” 

He was starting to wonder if it was worth avoiding staring at a screen if he had to have a phone call with this dude. 

“... _Hello_?”

“Mayonnaise pizza with extra mayonnaise please.”

There was a pause on the other side of the line, and Hijikata hated how he could just _hear_ the smirk contained in the next words. “ _Oogushi-kun, nice to hear you_. _By the way,_ _the deal today is that, if you give me a kiss you get breadsticks on the—_ ” 

“I’m hanging up.” 

“ _No—wait_!” 

“Cash on delivery.”

His phone hit the surface of his desk one more time, and then he was back to staring at his screen. 

“Might as well,” he sighed to himself, and then he went back to work. 

He didn’t know how long it took for the pizza to get to his place, but it didn’t feel as long as he expected it to. Maybe it was because he had been agonizing over whether green was a good colour choice or not, or maybe because Gintoki had actually rushed over. Whichever one it was, Hijikata decided not to pick. 

Hijikata opened the door to a grinning, sweatered-up Gintoki, who held his pizza box and—a bag of breadsticks on top. The dark-haired male began closing the door the moment he registered the second item. 

“It hurts to always have a door closed in your face,” Gintoki said after he’d stuck his foot between the door and the frame, halting Hijikata in his rejection.

“Shouldn’t be too bad if it’s deserved.” 

“Hey, hey, I was just joking about the kiss thing, but breadsticks actually do come as a deal today.” 

The student relented soon after, taking off the force he’d been placing on the barrier. Gintoki naturally pushed open the door again, handing off the food to Hijikata who grabbed it in one hand. 

After accepting the payment, Gintoki glanced behind Hijikata. 

“What are you up to?” 

“Hm?” he followed the gaze to see his still-illuminated screen. ”Oh, a project for my class.” 

“Really? How fun.” 

“It’s a pain.” 

Once again, Hijikata invited Gintoki inside, letting the other male settle wherever he wanted as he sat down at his desk chair. 

“What do you have to do?” 

“I’m doing the PowerPoint and one of the 5 sections.” He peeled open the box with practice, noticing that there were green peppers sitting atop. He didn’t remember ordering any, but knowing Gintoki it was probably just something to rouse him. “The workload isn’t so bad, it’s just the PowerPoint part. I just don’t know how to…” he trailed off when he realized he was, for some reason, telling the man about his struggles. Before he could take it back with a “nevermind”, Gintoki beat him. 

“I could help, Otose’s always making me do the advertisement at our shop. I know a bit about presentation.” 

Hijikata just stared as Gintoki stood up from his spot on the floor, walking over to Hijikata. When the silver-haired man realized that the latter was staring he stopped, raising both hands. 

“I also have experience from the business classes I took, if you’re worried about my credibility.” 

“I’m _always_ worried about your credibility.” 

“Touché.” 

However, they both noted that Hijikata didn’t reject the offer, so in the next moment Gintoki pulled up the chair in the corner, now sat next to Hijikata. 

“Lemme see.” 

The pizza box and the laptop switched places, and Gintoki leaned in, furrowing his brows. He looked as if he could use a pair of glasses, and Hijikata wondered if he _had_ used glasses when he was still in school. 

“Dude, this is atrocious,” Gintoki said, chuckling to himself.

“Big words for a _dude_ who didn’t even pronounce _atrocious_ correctly.” 

“Yeah, yeah. So… look,” Gintoki started, and then he began telling Hijikata about the choices he’d made and how he should change them. Like why neon lime green words just didn’t and would never work on a white background. 

Hijikata took in all of his pointers without much of a fuss, because he had already admitted to needing help and because—honestly, Gintoki seemed sincere in his instructions. The man didn’t give off the vibe that he was demeaning Hijikata or making fun of him, simply giving suggestions and ideas that could help. 

With Gintoki’s attire and this whole situation; the fact that Hijikata couldn’t see his uniform under the hoodie he wore and the fact that he sat next to him helping with his homework; he forgot that Gintoki was an annoying pizza-delivering-bastard. For that moment they just seemed like classmates-turned-friends, and it felt, for lack of a better word, pleasant. 

“But yeah, other than that, not bad.” 

“‘Other than that’ was just my photo placements. Everything else you got rid of,” Hijikata pointed out, and Gintoki let out a laugh, rubbing his eyes. 

“Man, it’s been so long since I’ve had to work on a presentation,” he spoke as he stretched out his arms above him. 

“Yeah, uh… Thanks,” Hijikata said, because he honestly did feel thankful. The whole thing was making more sense in his mind and the slides were actually looking attractive. 

“No problem,” Gintoki replied, leaning back in his seat. 

“How do I repay you?” 

Hijikata didn’t like feeling indebted to people.

“Repay me?” he questioned, soon tapping a finger on his chin. “Hm, maybe tip me 200% more on every order.” 

“Wha—“

“I’m kidding. Just order me some late dinner next time I drop by.” 

Hijikata thought about it, deciding that it wasn’t an unreasonable request. 

“Alright.” 

“Woo, score.” 

Hijikata rolled his eyes, but as he stared at Gintoki, who was precariously leaning over the chair and balancing on the back-legs, he thought that it wasn’t so bad. _He_ wasn’t so bad. Annoying, yes. A bastard, yes, but Hijikata was used to those types already, and Gintoki actually seemed to have a streak of something like kindness in him. 

His attention went to the lock of silver hair that shifted with a tilt of the man’s head, and in the next moment he was looking right into Gintoki’s eyes. 

The man gave Hijikata a side-eyed grin, and, yeah. Hijikata didn’t mind this _too_ much. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now the art for this chapter is @mayora6plus7 on Twitter!! Here’s the link: 
> 
> https://whoyoucallingtoshi.tumblr.com/post/631422844784574464/for-cinnabyunroll-and-am-0kay-my-piece-for-the


	3. Homemade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get closer. Hijikata might be feeling some things.

“Don’t touch that,” Hijikata chided, watching as Sougo fiddled with the papers on his desk. “I’ll need that for the midterms.”

Sougo clicked his tongue to which Hijikata rolled his eyes, but his attention was soon stolen by Kondou who pulled out the movie he brought in his backpack.

“Remind me again why we picked the least furnished place to have a movie night?” Hijikata questioned, watching Kondou stand up to put _Jumanji_ into the disk player. “And the one with the most outdated technology.” He knew that at Sougo’s place _Netflix_ was the medium often used, and Kondou had _some_ form of fancier technology. 

“Because we need to warm up your house,” Kondou explained as if it was the most natural thing.

“I bet no one but us has stepped foot in here since you moved in,” Sougo chimed in. 

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

“Oh?” Sougo raised an eyebrow, and Hijikata realized his misstep in revealing this piece of information. 

It wasn’t like the fact he hung out with Gintoki once or twice was some incriminating piece of evidence, but he knew that if he spoke of it it’d only bring out curiosity. And Sougo’s curiosity always came with some event that caused humiliation. 

“Whatever, let’s just get the show going. What type of snacks did you guys bring?” (Once again, they were bringing the food and drinks because it was his place.)

“We were actually thinking of ordering from the pizza place you got last time. You made it seem like that mayonnaise pizza was so good and we never got to try any of their normal tasting options,” the gorilla answered. Hijikata wondered why Kondou’s phrases were good-meaning but always had something that ticked him off.

He held back in saying that the mayonnaise pizza shouldn’t be dissed as something “not normal”, because he realized he had a bigger problem at hand. He did not want Sougo and Gintoki to meet. 

Something about that combination sent shivers up his spine, and spelled out nothing but disaster for him.

“Maybe we can try a new place tonight,” Hijikata tried to sway their opinions, but he should’ve known better. Any off action would only be poked at further by Sougo.

“No, I don’t think so.” 

The blatant rejection from Sougo was enough to tell Hijikata that he’d already caught onto the fact that he had some dilemma in his mind. If he pushed it further Sougo would only get more suspicious. He had to accept without it seeming like he was giving up. Why were all of his conversations with Sougo mind games?

“Kondou, you decide,” Hijikata prompted.

“Well, we already had the idea to order from Domimos so let’s just stick to that.” 

That was how, 25 minutes into the movie, Hijikata was waiting for the knock on his door at any moment. The only way he could get out of this was if he got to the door himself and had Gintoki leave with the normal interaction between customer and delivery-person. That was pretty unlikely, but he’d rather take his chances.

However, instead of a knock on his door, he received a text.

Pizza Perm

**Pizza Perm** _10:26p.m.  
_ _At your door in 2 minutes, be ready for me ;)_

**Hijikata** _10:26p.m._  
 _Just knock and I’ll get it dumbass_

**Pizza Perm** _10:27p.m._ **  
**_But I want you to open the door :(_

**Hijikata** _10:27p.m.  
_ _What_

He didn’t receive an answer after that, which probably told him that Gintoki was in the midst of taking the pizza up to his place. Hijikata decided, _fuck it_ , if he wanted it so bad he’d go to the door first, even if that was probably the most suspicious move he’d make tonight. It was better than Gintoki causing some commotion. He stood and grabbed the bills on the coffee table they’d pitched in, going to the door.

A minute later was when he opened the door, and _who would have known,_ there Gintoki was, pizza in hand. 

“Hey Oogushi. Not your usual order huh?”

Hijikata figured that they were far enough that their conversation wasn’t entirely audible with the movie sounds over them. 

“No, I’ve got some friends over,” he answered nonchalantly, holding out the money. 

Gintoki grabbed it—but of course, he couldn’t settle to be normal that day. He pulled Hijikata’s hand and forced him to stumble forward, until his lowered head was right near Gintoki’s neck, stare on the pizza boxes separating them.

He didn’t register much else but Gintoki’s voice next to his ear. _“You made me jealous_ , having some other dude call for a pizza with your address.” Gintoki’s breath was hot on his ear, and Hijikata stood frozen in shock until the shivers had gone from his ear to the bottom of his spine.

“ _You—!_ ” Hijikata hissed once he’d snapped out of it, pulling back and putting a hand up to his assaulted ear. He hated how hot his face felt. 

Hijikata hadn’t felt that flustered since their second meeting, and the words and situation all of a sudden reminded him of the first feelings he’d had towards Gintoki. He’d forgotten it because of the development of their strange relationship and the camaraderie, but now he was reminded full force. 

_Attraction_.

Gintoki’s smirk was enough to make him feel like there was magma in the pit of his stomach.

“What’s this?” Hijikata heard from behind him, and he went stiff when he realized Sougo was not far behind. “It’s him.” 

“Eh, you know me?” Gintoki questioned, craning his neck so that he could see behind Hijikata.

“You’re the guy Hijikata called a hottie at his house warming party!” Kondou exclaimed. Again, good-meaning, but introduced irritation. 

“That’s me,” Gintoki grinned, and before Hijikata could take control of the situation Sougo was grabbing the pizza and inviting him in. 

Gintoki accepted without a doubt, and Hijikata was left standing near the entrance, looking at the scene of the other three opening the pizzas and watching _Jumanji_ , already best buddies. He sighed, moving to the kitchen to grab himself something to drink while he pondered on how to make the night as short as possible. He probably didn't need to do much, right? Gintoki was still on the clock, wasn't he? Hijikata nodded to himself, heading back to the living room with a cup of ice-cold water. Unfortunately for him, the conversation that he heard between Gintoki and Sougo was everything he _didn't_ want.

Sougo seemed to want to make his life a living hell, talking about _him_ while Gintoki replied positively. 

Hijikata sat down at his earlier spot next to Kondou, on the edge of the half-circle they created with Sougo opposite him. He didn’t want to be there while Sougo talked about his embarrassing moments, but he had to be there to stop him if it went too far. 

It would be normal if he felt like he was on the outside of this conversation, but he found Gintoki’s stare on him more often than he’d expected. Like his focus was on Hijikata the whole time. 

They made it through half of the movie with Sougo and Gintoki just talking (when in the hell would his boss call him back?). Hijikata was a little afraid at how easily they got along. They were the same type of people, it seemed. 

“—Yeah, Hijikata never has anyone over. I’m actually surprised you say that you’ve been in here before,” Sougo spoke with a bored tone, even though Hijikata knew he was rejoicing. 

“No one, ever?” Gintoki asked. He pulled out his phone to check something.

Sougo started counting on his fingers, “No friends other than us, no relatives he likes, no common parties, and no lover.” Sougo stopped for a moment. “Hijikata is probably sexually frustrated.” 

“ _Oi_ , what kind of conclusion is that,” Hijikata cut in quickly. Sougo shouldn’t have even known that information. 

“Oh?” was Gintoki’s answer, and Hijikata avoided the stare he could feel. “I thought he’d be popular with the commoners.” 

“Everyone thinks that, but he’s a stubborn one.” 

“Glad I’ll break his stubborn streak,” Gintoki said casually, starting to stand. It took a second for Hijikata to understand. 

“ _Huh_?!” 

“Just kidding, Mayora. Unless, of course, you’re down.” 

“In your dreams.” 

“I have to head back now, I can’t ditch my job for that long,” Gintoki said to the lot of them, and even though Hijikata wished Gintoki could just leave without him needing to be seen out, Hijikata was too polite for that sort of thing. Kondou and Sougo bid farewell with some spoken goodbyes, and Hijikata followed until they were back where they started that night. 

“Please never do that again,” Hijikata requested, holding onto the door in preparation to close it. 

“Mm, maybe? Can’t promise. It was fun learning about you.” Gintoki smiled after he said the words, and Hijikata tried to stop himself from thinking that the smile was nice. His earlier revelation was still messing with his mind and telling him that Gintoki had always been exactly his type. “Although next time, I want to hear about you from yourself.” He backed up until he was now outside of his place, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’ll see you. And don’t forget: dinner.”

“Yeah, yeah. You got it, Your Highness.” 

That night revealed much more than Hijikata would have liked.

-

Believe it or not, Hijikata was a good cook. 

He followed recipes well and he had his own sense of what would work out and what wouldn’t. When he was making food for other people, the most important fact was that he left the mayonnaise as merely a condiment on the table. Thus, it wasn’t completely uncommon for Kondou and Sougo to come over and have dinner Hijikata made. 

That was probably why, when he accidentally made a pot of curry that was too much for one person (he’d made it from memory and had misjudged the amount of ingredients he would need from the store), he thought that it wasn’t too crazy to offer it to none other than Gintoki. 

The man _had_ told him a week ago that he wanted dinner next time, and even though he’d said to order some for him, Hijikata could argue that his cooking was as good as whatever he could order in. 

Hijikata didn’t have any good bread to eat with the curry, so he decided he might as well order breadsticks as a side to their meal and invite Gintoki at the same time. He was in the middle of stirring the food when the call connected. 

“ _Hey Oogushi, how’s it going?_ ” 

“Oogushi” rolled his eyes, figuring that Gintoki had already memorized his phone number. 

“I’d like to order some breadsticks. Plain, please.” 

“ _Uhuh, no mayonnaise pizza?_ ” 

“Not today.” He suddenly wondered if he should have told Gintoki beforehand—maybe he’d already eaten and couldn’t handle eating more—but that would have been impossible because he hadn’t even planned this. Either way, Hijikata thought he should ask. “‘You hungry?” 

“ _I haven’t had dinner yet, so yes._ ” 

The student nodded to himself, bringing the ladle up to his lips to taste, recoiling with an “ouch” when it burned his tongue. 

Gintoki’s chuckle was what filled the line next, and Hijikata swore he heard a mumble of “ _cute_ ”. “ _So what’ll we have? Chinese? Mexican? Maybe some burgers?_ ” 

“You’ll see. I’m hanging up, I expect you here in five minutes or no food.”

“ _Oi oi, it takes seven minutes to even drive there_ —“ 

Gintoki arrived within six minutes.

He was still panting when Hijikata opened the door, holding out the breadsticks for the latter to take. Hijikata watched, amused and terribly satisfied—revenge for that comment of “cute”—as Gintoki straightened himself, letting out one final long breath. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve run up stairs like that.” 

“And you still took longer than five minutes.” He spun on his heel to head back to the stove.

“Hey!” It was natural when Gintoki followed inside, slipping off his shoes and leaving them unkempt at the front. “You asked for something unreasonable—wait, do I smell—is that curry?” 

Hijikata nodded, scooping the contents onto two plates with rice. He could feel Gintoki’s presence next to him seconds later, silent. Even as Hijikata moved onto the final step, adding pepper and grabbing the spoons, Gintoki didn’t speak.

“What, you don’t like it?” Hijikata questioned, and though his tone was suggesting that he didn’t care, he could feel the signs of a stomach twist. 

“No, I do.” 

The student immediately felt himself relax. 

“It’s just, been so long since I’ve had homemade food,” Gintoki revealed, “I’m not much of a chef.” 

Hijikata didn’t know when he started smiling, but he looked away when he realized, finishing the table preparations. “Well it’s your lucky day.”

“Thanks.” 

“I’m just repaying my debt. Sit down.” 

They started eating a minute later, and during the rest of the exchange there wasn’t one silent moment. It seemed that Gintoki’s wish—wanting to hear about Hijikata from himself—was granted. There was talk about Hijikata’s project and his part-time job at _7-11_ , Gintoki’s work, their hobbies; general topics that they didn’t know about each other yet. They even talked about Otose, the owner of Domimos that Gintoki was currently muting calls from, and Matsudaira, who had tried roping Hijikata into some party the other day. 

Half an hour later the dishes were being washed by Gintoki while Hijikata dried and put them away, and Hijikata had to stop for a second to wonder when they’d gotten so domestic. He didn’t bring it up, however, deciding that since Gintoki acted like this was second nature for him, it was normal for this sort of progress. 

It was probably also normal for Gintoki to stay over an hour after the meal was over, lounging around while Hijikata studied and entertained further conversations with him. 

It was fun but relaxing at the same time, and Hijikata found himself a little disappointed when Gintoki finally decided that he should head back in time for their busiest hours (which was 10 p.m. to midnight). 

Gintoki stopped at the door when Hijikata was seeing him out, and Hijikata expected it when he opened his mouth to speak. 

“Next time—“

“ _You’re_ cooking,” Hijikata interrupted him. It was the first time he’d seen Gintoki’s surprised expression, and he decided that he quite liked it. 

It was gone in the next moment, instead replaced with the smug smirk he was accustomed to seeing. 

“As you wish, Mayora.” 

Hijikata clicked his tongue, wondering when he’d get the last word in their exchanges. 

-

From that point on, they had dinner together more than casual friends would. Sometimes it was the pizza from Domimos; one order of mayonnaise pizza and one order of azuki-bean pizza, and other times it was whatever they cooked. The first time Gintoki cooked for him was quite eventful, because although the pasta was good the salad was soggy (Hijikata taught him to not make the salad so early on) and Gintoki had forced him to try a forkful of his sweet version. All dinners made by Gintoki after that, however, received passing grades. 

Hijikata’s daily plans soon became a mixture of school, part-time work, and hanging out with Gintoki. The last part of his plans often morphed into one of the others—for example Gintoki would sit at his place while he studied, and he’d even shown up at the convenience store once during his shift. He even celebrated Gintoki’s birthday with him, and the day after the first snow they’d hung out. 

Throughout it all, Hijikata could feel that—in the back of his mind somewhere—every new incident confirmed to him that he was definitely attracted to Gintoki. 

Not only was the man appealing on the outside (which Hijikata begrudgingly admitted only because he’d said it aloud the first time), he was also drawing him in with his personality. Gintoki was a flirt and gave off the vibes of a slacker, but Hijikata knew after all those hours that Gintoki actually worked hard. That he was going to go back to school next year to finish his degree, and he was actually reviewing material that he’d need to know. 

He was also kind, in a gentle way that’d throw Hijikata off. It showed when Gintoki helped him study and told him to leave dinner to him when it was obvious that Hijikata was overwhelmed with school. There’d even been a time when he was planning to pull his second all-nighter that week, only to cave and call for a pizza that arrived swiftly. That time he remembered falling asleep with his books on the living room floor, but he’d somehow woken up the next day to his alarm and warm bed. After the silencing of his alarm, that silent morning wrapped in his blankets came with a feeling of something grasping his heart. Hijikata realized that he might’ve been into Gintoki more than he was letting on.

And then, before he knew it, the dreaded season of finals was right at his doorstep. 

Hijikata ran himself dry during the first week, going over and over his notes, preparing for classes with 20-page-papers due, and of course finishing the semester-long project with Sarutobi and Yamazaki. The hours in his day morphed into one big jumble of confusion and urgency, and he didn't even realize when he stopped eating more than a meal a day—let alone a whole three like usual. He felt like death itself, running on irregular hours of sleep and ungodly amounts of caffeine, afraid that if he kept it up, he'd just explode and leave a pile of stress as his ashes.

It was Saturday when he was knee-deep in loose leaves, having to take the day off from his work. There was a knock on his door that he nearly missed, taking him out of his world of study. He stood on instinct to open the door, stopping just a few paces away from the entrance when he suddenly realized that he shouldn't be expecting anyone or anything. Irritation started to fill him when he noted the possibility of it being Matsudaira, here to invite him for another night out. He did _not_ need to have alcohol tempting him. 

The door was opened seconds later with his skeptic hands, and he peeked through the small opening to see what was up. 

It was crazy how quickly his heart stopped and his stomach filled with warmth, seeing Gintoki tilting his head to look back at him. In his hands was what Hijikata was admittedly missing, and if he wasn't suddenly overtaken by the feeling of butterflies, the pizza would have been the centre of attention.

But that was just an "if". Currently, he could barely register the words that Gintoki was saying over his mirage of emotions.

"I know it's finals time for university students so you haven't been ordering lately," Gintoki started, explaining even when Hijikata would probably accept anything from him at the moment. "I thought you'd need a little energy in your system. It's on me."

The familiarity of his voice and the smell of pizza nearly made him shed a tear, and he let the door open to grab the box.

"I... thanks," Hijikata said, still a little unbelieving of the situation. The cold air that came in made him shiver, and he must've looked worn out enough for even Gintoki (rattiest dude out there) to point it out.

"You look dead."

"I _feel_ dead."

Gintoki chuckled, and Hijikata didn't have any more words to express his gratitude for this seemingly small (but entirely _not_ ) act. He opened his mouth, maybe to say thanks again, maybe to invite Gintoki inside, _who knew_ , when he saw from his peripherals Gintoki's hand coming up to his face. In the next moment Gintoki was cradling his head, leaning in to press a kiss to his forehead. 

"Good luck with your studies and take care. I'll get out of here before I distract you." 

Gintoki kept his word as he turned and left, leaving Hijikata to stand there, dazedly shutting the door, leaning on it in a numb stupor. When he slid to the ground he was reminded of the time he did the exact same thing, a week or so after meeting Gintoki. This time, though, it was not dread filling him but a fuzzy, intense feeling. 

He was in trouble. 

The places that Gintoki touched burned, and before long his whole face felt the same.

Gintoki could have at least made the forehead kiss a _joke_ , but _no_. He just _had_ to make Hijikata sure that what he felt towards Gintoki definitely surpassed friendship.

-

After that incident, most of his finals came and went, of course including all the horrifying things he had to experience. The last of it was the project he’d been working on this whole time, which he still had to present. 

The day of, Hijikata was nervous, but he simply performed what he needed to, and kept the faith that his work would pay off.

It did, in the end. 

The presentation with Yamazaki and Sarutobi surprisingly went off without a hitch. They presented well other than some moments of Yamazaki’s stuttering, and it seemed that they’d had the teacher’s attention and interest. Hijikata thought that a big part of it was how nicely the PowerPoint was organized, because it’d been easy to follow, appealing, and even served as good reminders for what they needed to say next. 

As he stood in front of the teacher, who was giving them on-the-spot feedback and commentary, he felt an overwhelming urge to see Gintoki. 

After all, he now felt doubly grateful to Gintoki, even though he’d already tried to show his thanks throughout the months with his dinners. 

The last time he saw Gintoki left him in a mess of feelings and wants, but he had to admit that he wasn't against exploring those things and perhaps... maybe, getting something more from them.

As his group and him were leaving the class, he contemplated dropping by the pizza store in-person. He was in a good mood and wouldn’t mind taking a needed break to sit down and have some pizza. 

“What are we all doing after this?” Sarutobi spoke up. Hijikata looked up from his phone to see Sarutobi slowing down, coming to a stop which Yamazaki and Hijikata copied soon after. “There’s this pizza place around here and I think everyone needs to eat there once in their lives.” 

“Pizza? What’s it called?” Yamazaki questioned. 

“It’s called Domimos.” 

Hijikata raised an eyebrow, not expecting to hear that name. 

He knew that the local pizza place wasn’t some hidden fantasy of his and they had a good amount of regulars, but it was still a little shocking to hear the name from someone else—especially when it was being regarded so highly. 

“There’s this special _natto_ order that I can only get there. They’re super accommodating and accept some crazy customization.”

Hijikata opened his mouth to reply that he as well ordered a special pizza from there, only to be one step behind. 

“And, well, of course, there’s _him_. The best part of it all. My lover,” Sarutobi announced.

“No way, so we’re finally meeting the guy you always ramble about? ‘Gin-chan’, was it?” Yamazaki questioned. “We should go, maybe they can make an anpan pizza.”

 _Gin_? Hijikata questioned in his mind. (He tuned out of every single one of Sarutobi’s ramblings a few seconds after they started. He never wanted to hear anything more after their first meeting where she explicitly described how she wanted to be tied up, so this was the first he’d heard of this. She also called her partner “my honey” more than anything else, he’d noticed.) 

There was no doubting, after learning that they worked at Domimos, that Sarutobi’s “honey” was Gintoki. 

Gintoki, pizza delivering fuck, was the same lover that Sarutobi always talked about in her rambles. From the little that Hijikata had heard before, they’d gotten up to some extremely outrageous things. 

For some reason, that bothered him. 

“ _So Gintoki’s into that?_ ” Hijikata spoke more to himself than anyone else, but Sarutobi caught it. 

“I know, right?! He’s the best S that a woman could ever hope to meet... Wait, so you know him too?” 

“Yeah, I order often.”

“Such a flirt to everyone, isn’t he?” Sarutobi questioned with a mischievous grin on her face. 

The moments Gintoki called him ‘cute’ flashed in Hijikata’s mind, and he found himself nodding. 

“But you know, you don’t have to worry about him actually swinging that way. He flirts to rack up the tips.”

Hijikata blinked, the words at first going into one ear and out the other, before he finally processed them. 

It made sense, now that Sarutobi pointed it out. Hijikata thought back to when they first met; how easily Gintoki said all the compliments and pulled off those smirks and one-liners. He was a natural, and now it was no doubt because he was _used_ to it. 

“People really give him a lot of extra tips when they get buttered up by his words, you know? And his smirk is absolutely lethal. He has people falling _all over him_ ,” she sighed like a lovestruck maiden. “Sometimes I’m bothered that he flirts with everyone, but, well. Get that dough, as people say it.” She laughed, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Even though he’s getting _my_ dough every night. Whichever way he likes it. Sometimes I’m—“

“Alright,” Yamazaki thankfully cut in before she started her ten-minute spiels. “Let’s just go.” 

“Actually, I’m heading back to my place,” Hijikata spoke as he pulled up his scarf, slipping his phone into his pocket.

“What? You don’t want to eat?” 

“No. Must be the leftover nerves.” 

It was a shitty excuse, but his desires to see Gintoki and eat some pizza were extinguished in seconds. 

He wasn’t usually one to make such stupid connections and assumptions, but hearing Sarutobi say all of that made the moments he had with Gintoki turn sour. Forget about all the times Gintoki said he was cute or fun—he’d already known there was possibility that it was all bullshit—he now started wondering if Gintoki helping him out was just some extension of his ploy to get more loyal customers. Customers who’d handsomely tip him for his service. Maybe the times he hung around longer than necessary were to make sure Hijikata was wrapped right around his finger. 

Or maybe it wasn’t even that deep. Gintoki wasn’t the type to do something as bothersome as that. He was just killing some time during his boring part-time job. Flirting with a customer out of the other hundreds.

_He even had a girlfriend on the side._

Hijikata grit his teeth. And he’d been in a good mood, too. 


	4. Trust Your Gut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hijikata's kind of got it bad. What will he do with the knowledge that Gintoki's dating Sarutobi?

Hijikata wasn’t the type to ignore someone because of his own feelings and problems. 

When he really thought about it, it was in no way Gintoki’s fault that he was feeling… off. Disappointed. Jealous—or even... betrayed. Gintoki had no need to change the way he did things just because Hijikata realized he _might_ have feelings that passed the “friend” zone. If that was how life worked then everyone would be accommodating everyone, which just didn’t happen.

Gintoki could have his girlfriend and flirt with whoever he wanted. Hijikata just had to constantly remind himself that he wasn’t supposed to be thinking of Gintoki in the way that he’d been thinking. However, he’d really prefer it if Gintoki stopped flirting with _him_ in particular. It could no longer be harmless flirting when Hijikata was actually affected by it. 

He had to reiterate that he wasn’t the type to ignore someone because of his own feelings and problems. 

It just so happened that he hadn’t texted, called the pizza place, or had any sort of interaction with Gintoki for nearly a week after the presentation now. (In short, he was a damn hypocrite.)

There were no valid excuses he could make to defend his hypocrisy. He wasn’t busy because the semester had just ended and he hadn’t taken more hours at his part-time job, and it wasn’t like he _didn’t_ crave pizza. 

He just thought that it’d be better for him to cool down. It’d been a while, after all, since someone had such a constant presence in his life other than Kondou and Sougo. It didn’t help that Gintoki’s presence in particular was at once calming, heart racing, and enjoyable. 

Hijikata sighed, laying on his bed with his arms and legs spread out. He had a little too much time now, and he found out he actually preferred when he had stuff to do. At least, the other day, he spent his hours chilling and drinking at Kondou’s place for a change. 

He thought of working out for a good five minutes, and then backtracked entirely when he remembered it was actually one of his rest days. Rest days meant pizza days. 

_Pizza_ … He didn’t like how Gintoki was the first image that popped up in his mind after he thought about pizza. There was a limit to how much someone could alter aspects of one’s life. 

It was after pondering for ten minutes that Hijikata figured he should go to the store. Ever since he moved closer to Domimos, he hadn’t had one of his grocery store-bought pizzas and bottles of mayonnaise. He wondered how exactly it compared to Domimo’s, since he basically had the taste of the latter engrained on his palate. Maybe, if it wasn’t that far off, he could even start doing that.

It was a cheaper alternative as well. $2 for a frozen cheese and pepperoni pizza, and $4 for a bottle of mayonnaise. $6 in total, which was a glaring difference when placed next to the $21 pizza he’d been having nowadays. 

Hijikata dressed warm, getting ready for the chilly bus ride over to the store. While getting ready he texted Kondou and Sougo, inviting either one of them to go shopping with him. He even invited Yamazaki. He didn’t like going shopping by himself, mostly because he knew he overbought mayonnaise and always needed someone to keep him in check. 

Enforcers

**Korilla** _3:47p.m.  
_ Sorry, Otae’s little brother needs a ride to kendo classes

**S** _3:47p.m.  
_ Busy. I know someone who’d want to go

**Hijikata** _3:48p.m.  
_ It’s fine Kondou, and Sougo if it’s someone you know, I’d rather not.

Yamazaki

**Yamazaki** _3:49p.m.  
_ Sure, why not. You driving?

**Hijikata** _3:49p.m.  
_ Bussing

**Yamazaki** _3:49p.m.  
_ What the heck

**Hijikata** _3:50p.m.  
_ So is that a yes or no?  
 _Read_  
Yamazaki, answer me  
 _Read  
_ I’ll beat you up the next time I see you

There was no answer from Yamazaki after that, so Hijikata clicked his tongue. He decided he’d just go alone; if he overbought mayonnaise it’d be a treat to him for finishing the finals with his sanity in check. 

Although, he had to ask, was he even sane at the moment? It was a question he had to think about a lot.

The wind was cold outside and the bus seat felt ten times worse than that on his ass, but it felt nice going out after such a long period of the same environment. He hadn’t gone grocery shopping for a month. The entire month of December had been him emptying his canned foods and rice stock, as well as ordering food whenever he didn’t feel like cooking. The trip was long overdue, if he had to be honest. 

The store was as busy as he’d expect of a Friday afternoon, and the first item he set his eyes on reminded him that Christmas was right around the corner. He didn’t care that much about Christmas, because to him it was just another time that Kondou and Sougo would raid his place. Either on the day of, or a few days after. The only difference was the exchange of gifts. 

He first shopped for all the produce he’d expect to need in a week, and then he replenished his canned foods that he’d mainly eaten this past few weeks.

The last place he needed to be was in the frozen food aisles, where he searched for the perfect pizza to make the mayonnaise creation he used to eat. When he found a reasonably cheap pizza, he set his basket down to open the cooler door.

But, just as he was reaching inside, his arm was grabbed.

“Huh—?”

“Are you really going to eat this cheap food when I could easily make you a pizza?” 

His first move was to take his arm out of that grasp, staring incredulously at the one person he’d never expect at a grocery store. 

“Gintoki.” 

Not only did he expect Gintoki to be working, the man clearly stated himself that he barely cooked home meals. If Hijikata ever saw his fridge, he’d expect a single pudding and some cake (which, he realized Gintoki actually had in his basket. Maybe that was his sole reason for being there that day). 

Hijikata closed the freezer door to stop letting the cold air out, soon spotting the movement of familiar figures at the end of the aisle. It was Sougo, Sarutobi, and some orange-haired girl he’d never seen before. 

“You’re shopping for groceries right now? If you had free time you should’ve texted,” Gintoki spoke, but Hijikata found it hard to meet his eyes. 

After all, he hadn’t received the time he needed to accept that Gintoki was currently dating Sarutobi. Also, he was wondering what the _hell_ Sougo was doing walking up to them when he’d said he was “busy”. 

_I know someone who’d want to go._

Hijikata suddenly remembered the text Sougo sent, and it clicked in his mind that the only valid answer to his question of why Gintoki appeared in the same grocery store as him was some ploy that Sougo had. 

“It’s just some grocery shopping,” was Hijikata’s answer to Gintoki, still not looking at him.

“...Hey, you—”

“Gin-chan, can you buy this for me?” the orange-haired girl cut in when she reached them, holding up a box of frozen mochi-ice cream. She didn’t seem to have a care for their conversation, simply engrossed by her dessert. 

“China, you’re already buying normal ice cream. You’re getting fat.” 

Hijikata watched in confusion as the two—Sougo and “China”—started fighting each other, and he wondered when Sougo started looking at someone with that much affection in his eyes. He also wondered what kind of malicious spirit was looking over him, because he next saw what he definitely did _not_ need to see at the moment. 

Sarutobi slipped an arm through the gap of Gintoki’s side and arm, grabbing hold of him with a contented grin on her face, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

“Oi, what are you doing right now?” Gintoki questioned, pushing on Sarutobi’s face who just gasped, saying something about “Gin showing his S side” out in public. 

Hijikata felt uncomfortable at the sight, and the wrenching of his heart told him it was more than just that feeling. He would almost say that this was hurt. 

He turned away when he’d had enough, finally grabbing the pizza to drop it into his basket. His bed at home seemed like a _great_ place now, even though he’d been itching to get out just an hour ago. 

“I’m going to checkout,” he said to no one in particular, and started walking to the front of the store. It wasn’t that surprising when the rest of them came to follow him, because this all seemed to be a part of Sougo’s plan either way. Sougo had already known that he was in a bad mood the other day, since he’d even ranted about it at Kondou’s place. 

When it seemed that Sougo was the closest to him than everyone else, Hijikata started speaking. 

“What’s up with this situation?” he asked, and he swore that if Sougo didn’t respond he’d interrupt the daily naps he knew the guy took at 1 p.m. 

“Kagura needed to go to the store, and I decided to invite Gintoki. Don’t know where the purple-haired chick came from,” he answered nonchalantly, and Hijikata wanted to sigh at his words. 

“I get the other parts, but why did you decide to invite Gintoki? Since when have you guys been on those sorts of terms?” 

“Since two months ago when we watched _Jumanji_. I met Kagura through him.”

“Your girlfriend?”

He snorted, but didn’t say anything in response.

“I invited Gintoki because I was sick of seeing you brood over texts and at Kondou’s.” 

“Wha _—brood_? I was not.” 

“Okay, guess I imagined it when you called Gintoki a clown bastard the other day.”

Hijikata felt his face flush, but he didn’t have anything to say against that. He _had_ called Gintoki a clown bastard, and he might’ve been bothering Kondou and Sougo over texts more than usual. _But he never outright acted sad! Never_. 

“This didn’t help my situation at all."

“It wasn’t supposed to,” Sougo said, just as the others came back into ear range, lining up behind them, “You probably don’t get it, but you’re supposed to do something about your own problems.” 

Hijikata placed his items onto the belt, thinking. 

“Gintoki, treat me to pudding after this,” he heard Sarutobi purr. He couldn’t help the frown that appeared on his face.

If it actually wasn’t obvious that he’d been brooding days before, it was obvious now.

-

Hijikata had left that awkward fifth wheel situation as fast as he could that day, making up some excuse that he had to write an email. 

He’d gone home with a sour taste in his mouth and it only worsened when the pizza-mayo combo that he used to have just tasted _bad_ now. Could he really not find any alternatives to Domimos? At least, for another two weeks or so. 

He knew that he wouldn’t be able to avoid ordering from there forever. 

Christmas inched closer as Hijikata spent his free days working out and reading books in preparation for the next semester. He also went out once to buy Kondou and Sougo a gift, and for some reason, he’d also gotten Gintoki one. It was just a giftcard to a café Gintoki talked about once, something about how they served both the best parfaits and puddings. 

He did still owe Gintoki for keeping him company and helping him out during his stressful times, so… And, as he’d mentioned before, all he had to do was get over it. He wasn’t averse to being friends with Gintoki. 

The plans he had for Christmas were relatively calm. He’d be meeting Kondou and Sougo on the 26th, whereas the 24th and 25th were completely open. As Sougo had (so helpfully) mentioned, he didn’t have relatives that he liked nor did he host worthless parties. And of course, no lover to bring to some fancy dinner date. 

The Eve of Christmas was him chilling on the couch that he decided to order a while ago, glasses on the bridge of his nose as he sipped wine and read a book. He felt like one of those middle-aged ladies that did nothing but drink wine in the afternoon. 

As he was standing over his cutting board at 7 p.m., thinking of how much he’d need for one portion of food, he was suddenly overcome with a sense of loneliness. He never before had those types of feelings. Rather, he had appreciated being alone for most of the other Christmases in his life. 

It was because he’d gotten used to having someone with him. 

It was funny, and incredibly stupid, how a mere three months of ones life could reverse more than ten years of ideas. 

His gaze settled on a cut in the cutting board, larger than the other nicks, created by none other than Gintoki and his monstrous strength on a day a month ago. At the memory of how it’d been a “cheer Hijikata on” dinner where Gintoki had even made mayonnaise one of the main ingredients, Hijikata suddenly felt his heart swell.

Hijikata took out his phone, clicking onto his messages with Gintoki. It was a long shot—the common person didn’t have Christmas Eve open for impromptu plans, but he just wanted to _see_ the man. Maybe he could call. It might have just been enough to hear his voice. He could tell him that he had a present to pick up.

His finger hovered over the call button, and just when he was about to press it he heard a knock on his door.

The heart beating in his chest nearly leapt up and out of his mouth, and after a moment he pocketed his phone and made his way to the door. He opened it without checking who it was, because he had a feeling in his gut that it could have only been one person either way, no matter how unbelievable. 

Who was it that said to trust your gut, again? 

Hijikata decided that he’d use that feeling more in the future, because there Gintoki was. 

It was a familiar scene, from the view of his ruffled hair to his stupid grin and the smell of fresh pizza. It was comforting and nice, and Hijikata had no other words to describe it than that. 

“Am I too late?” Gintoki questioned, “Have you made dinner?”

“...No, I haven’t.” He still couldn’t entirely believe that it was Christmas Eve, and he was opening the door to a pizza delivery. 

To be fair, Gintoki was not dressed in any work clothes, and he’d never even ordered pizza to begin with. 

“I… why are you here?” Hijikata questioned, even if he was about to call Gintoki mere minutes ago.

“Well, the mayonnaise was going to go bad soon,” Gintoki explained, and Hijikata nodded at the logical answer. What he didn’t expect was the additional statement of, “And I wanted to spend Christmas Eve with you.”

His mouth opened in silent shock, and he had to think before he could say anything in reply to that. It was unfair, how Gintoki could say things that should be reserved exclusively for other people. 

Hijikata remembered what Sougo had said the other day, about how he should be solving his problems himself. He had to acknowledge that he had been acting too emotional for his own liking, and if he ever wanted to solve the dilemma he currently had, he had to be straightforward with Gintoki. 

“Come in,” he finally said, recognizing that Gintoki was probably cold. He led the way inside as usual, but instead of sitting down somewhere he turned right before the kitchen started. Hijikata made up his mind and decided that he should say what he’d been thinking. “If—If you’re doing this because you feel obligated to, because I’m a loyal customer…” It was hard to say what he wanted to, especially when it painted him in the jealous light he belonged in. “If you’re so nice to me because it gives you more tips like with everyone else,” he continued, rubbing the back of his neck, “You don’t need to. I’ll still order from Domimos and whatever else. I like the pizza enough for that. Um.” 

He dropped his arm and steeled himself, staring right into Gintoki’s eyes. “I like _you_ enough for that. And that’s why I’ve been weird lately, because I learned about you and Sarutobi. I’ll get over it, eventually, but just. That’s why—”

“What the hell,” Gintoki cut him off, and Hijikata flinched at the potential of a mess when Gintoki threw the pizza boxes onto the couch. 

Gintoki took two long strides to stand in front of him, grabbing his arm, hand sliding down until it met Hijikata’s and held on. 

“I barely have a clue what other stuff you’re talking about, but you’re not just a customer, I _—what the hell.”_ He squeezed Hijikata’s hand. “I _like_ you, get that through your thick skull.”

“What?” Hijikata asked dumbly, and when he tried to move his hand out of Gintoki’s grasp whatsoever, the hold just tightened. “But you’re dating Sarutobi.”

“No, I’m not. I don’t get why you’d… Oh. She said it, didn’t she.” Hijikata nodded. Gintoki let out an agitated sigh, his free hand running through his hair as he glanced off to the side. Hijikata suddenly noted that his nose was still red from the cold. “She’s like that. I’ve never had feelings for her and we’ve never done anything other than her surprise hugs and grabbing my arm.” 

“You… don’t flirt with other customers?” Hijikata questioned, and Gintoki winced.

“Well, I do have to admit _that_ , but it’s just what I’m used to! Plus,” he was back to staring at Hijikata, moving even closer, taking his other hand captive, “I already said. You’re not just a customer, Hijikata. I’m literally so—you’re so amazing.”

“God,” Hijikata complained, looking away when his face started to burn, “Can you _not_ explain it like that?”

“What should I say, then? I’m whipped? You’re adorable? Gorgeous?” Gintoki finally let go of Hijikata’s hands to turn his face back to him, “You know, when I first saw you I couldn’t get you out of my mind.” 

Hijikata was realizing now more than ever that he didn’t do well with compliments, especially when it was said with such sincerity like that. 

“I wanted to do so many _things_ to you, as well. I still want to.”

“Pervert,” Hijikata mumbled.

“You got it.” 

“I like you a lot, too,” Hijikata admitted, and he frowned when Gintoki smirked, knocking foreheads with him.

“I know. You went crazy with the ideas about me.” 

“Shut up.” 

Gintoki laughed, causing Hijikata to do the same moments later. Standing there, Hijikata wondered why he'd think Gintoki was the type to lead him on like that if he had a girlfriend.

"Are we all clear now?" Gintoki eventually asked, and Hijikata nodded, feeling embarrassed at his obvious show of unneeded jealousy. He really spent nearly two weeks thinking of stupid things. "Great. You know how I said I wanted to do things to you?” Gintoki questioned, and Hijikata's gaze flicked up to meet Gintoki's. “...Can I kiss you right now?”

The moment the words left Gintoki’s mouth, Hijikata didn’t wait, leaning in to press his lips to the permhead’s. He was savoring the simple act after all these days of subconsciously imagining it. 

He pulled away after far too little, for the both of them. “Just ‘kiss’?” Hijikata mumbled, licking Gintoki’s bottom lip teasingly. He could feel the frustration in Gintoki’s actions, the man wrapping an arm around his waist to kiss him again, deeper, harder. 

It was already known that Hijikata wasn’t a virgin, but he had to admit that he lost to Gintoki in terms of kissing. His mouth was pried open by the man’s tongue, and he moaned when Gintoki’s hands fell to his ass to squeeze. 

They were at it until Hijikata’s knees went weak, and he swore he could’ve done that for the rest of the day. 

Gintoki was the one to pull back this time, dropping his forehead onto Hijikata’s shoulder. 

“The pizza will get cold,” Gintoki stated, and it was a little funny how obvious that was the least of his problems.

“I have an oven.”

“...I’m seriously trying to hold back, here.”

“Don’t,” Hijikata said, letting his hand wander under Gintoki’s sweater, stroking his skin with his fingers. “What happened to all those things you wanted to do? I was looking forward to it.”

Gintoki seemed to pause, and then Hijikata was suddenly being hoisted up onto his shoulder. 

“Oi!”

Gintoki started walking to Hijikata’s room. “You’re going to regret saying those words.” 

“Oh?”

“It’s been my long-term goal to see you cry in pleasure.” 

Hijikata, although the one to incite Gintoki, felt his face flame at the phrase. He couldn’t believe Gintoki had the gall to say those types of things. 

“Do whatever you want,” Hijikata mumbled in embarrassment.

“Oh, I will.”

-

“Gin—wait, I can’t—” Hijikata arched his back, whimpering when it only made Gintoki push his fingers in deeper, the heat around his chest never subsiding. He felt like he was going to pass out, but even so he never uttered the safe word that they’d agreed on half an hour ago. "Isn't this too much for a first time together?!" 

“Look at you,” Gintoki laughed after he released the nipple he’d been sucking on, “I haven’t even entered you yet and you’re already like this. Too much? Is it, really? You seem to be feeling it a lot.”

“That’s because you—you won’t stop,” Hijikata’s leg twitched, feeling the wave of a third orgasm grow bigger. “I’ve already…”

“I’m not sure you get it yet,” Gintoki spoke, grinding the pads of his fingers onto that _spot_ inside Hijikata, “Those customers will never feel this. I’ll never touch them like this. I’ll never fuck them so hard without even using my cock.”

“I get it— _I get it_ ,” Hijikata reiterated. 

“You think I wanna make them fall apart like you are? Make ‘em all desperate for my cock?”

“ _No_ ,” Hijikata gasped, almost afraid of how hard he would cum if Gintoki kept this up.

“No, that’s right, Hijikata. It’s just you.” 

Hijikata swore if Gintoki kept rubbing his fingers on that one spot inside of him, he’d reach another devastating orgasm that he’d have to recover from. It was just too much; being attacked on every surface of his body. He already knew after the first few minutes, where Gintoki deepthroated him until he couldn’t remember his own name, that Gintoki was going to make every part of his body remember him. He just never knew the magnitude of that.

“You know, ever since you opened the door that first day, I’ve been wondering what it’d feel like to suck on these,” Gintoki flicked Hijikata’s nipple and the ravenette convulsed, “They’re a lot cuter all puffed up.” 

“ _Gin_ ,” the name fell out of his mouth in desperation, “ _Please,_ come on, I can’t anymore. I want it. I want you.”

Gintoki hummed, “I guess you are reaching your limit.” And then his signature smirk was back on his face. “You want this?” He ground his member against Hijikata's entrance, missing purposefully the first few times.

Hijikata could barely manage a nod when he saw the way Gintoki pumped his erection. The nod was then all Gintoki needed, because he was pushing the head through Hijikata’s stretched entrance a moment later. He slid in smoothly because of the long time he took fingering Hijikata, and when he was halfway in, he slammed the rest of the way in. 

The pliant body under him jerked, and then Hijikata was cumming without any control over it, head thrown back in a silent cry as his semen shot all over his stomach, fingers twisting the sheets in his grip. Gintoki pounded him through his orgasm, their groans mixing together and creating a symphony that belonged only to mind-numbing sex. Hijikata eventually had to shake his head, feeling entirely overstimulated as he tried to close his legs.

It was a little unfortunate how short it'd been (but they both knew the next time could be different) so Gintoki pulled out in mercy to jerk off. Hijikata, still in a daze, reached out his hands. Gintoki raised an eyebrow but accepted the request with astonishment, kneeling over Hijikata’s chest the next moment, watching as he leaned up to take Gintoki in his mouth. The sight of Hijikata's lips wrapping around his tip made him want to restart the whole half an hour all over again, just to suck those lips into his mouth and give them the love they deserved.

Hijikata's tongue was eager as he sucked, telling a whole different story compared to his hooded, sultry gaze. Gintoki eventually placed a hand on the back of Hijikata’s head to guide him, fucking that eager mouth, enjoying the feel of Hijikata’s nails digging into the side of his thighs. 

Hijikata gagged when Gintoki pushed deep, and the latter pulled back only to repeat the action a few more times. He finally groaned loudly, bottomed out in Hijikata’s mouth as he shot his cum down the man’s throat.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Gintoki said as he slowly pulled out, entranced at the sight of Hijikata dropping his head back onto the pillow, eyes glazed, the slightest peek inside of his mouth showing how it was coated in Gin’s cum. 

Hijikata licked his lips and swallowed, and the view very obviously turned Gintoki on once more, but the former passed out before anything more could happen.

-

It was safe to say that Hijikata's life, which had been filled with empty rooms and alright pizza deliveries, soon became filled with one lazy fucker in his living room, and, well, _still_ , more pizza deliveries. 

Important moments during that time would be them revealing their relationship to Hijikata’s bastard friends, and Gintoki pulling him in for a kiss in front of a nato obsessed ~~stalker~~ girl.   
  
Eventually, the lazy fucker became permanent at his place, having moved in and started school again. The amount of pizza deliveries would soon diminish, but it was a fact in saying that they were replaced by _other_ methods to satiate Hijikata's cravings. 

On days where a pizza delivery _would_ be made, however, Hijikata would laugh to himself, wondering how in the hell he was supposed to explain to anyone (without embarrassment) that his obsession with mayonnaise pizza made him meet the love of his life. 

But he'd tell himself, _well, whatever._

In his case, the pepperoni was under the cheese.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, that's not a saying. Please don't go around saying "the pepperoni is under the cheese" when something unexpectedly good happened, my dumbass made this up aight okay aight I am stupid
> 
> Anyways, booyah! There is my contribution to the Gintoki Birthday Bash! I want to especially thank the mods who organized all of this, my beta reader greenkazoo, and the two lovely people who undoubtedly made beautiful art to go with my story: @mayora6plus7 and @m0kay_ on twitter! 
> 
> I had a rough start with this story, well not really, first chapter I wrote in a night, but the rest was a struggle. In another life this story would have been more refined than what it is, but currently it's just a fluffy, flirty story about how a pizza obsessed Hijikata falls in love with a flirty pizza deliverer Gintoki. What happened happened. The pepperoni is under the cheese (pls stop me). 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope this evoked some feelings of happiness in y'all!


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